Exclusive: The Copyrights’ New Track Is Snotty Pop-Punk At Its Catchiest

The latest offering by Illinois punks The Copyrights sounds straight out of 1996.

PHOTO: Marc Gärtner

Modern-day fans might think pop-punk was all candy-coated riffs and ‘WOAH’ choruses, but The Copyrights know better. The Carbondale, Illinois, quartet remember the good times, when pop-punk was all driving guitars and sneering lyrics about how cool, beautiful people can eat a saddlebag of dicks. At the same time, the band channels the aggressive catchiness inherent in that genre, reminding fans that an infectious song is all the more fun when it’s crass and kind of unpleasant.

The band’s new track, titled Welcome Wagon and featured on their split EP with Kepi Ghoulie, is all about that sweet spot between ‘Believe in yourself’ and ‘Fuck you forever.’ The track’s lyrics concern leaving home and growing up, only to realize that none of this matters, we’re all human, only music is real. Behind those ideas is a bounce-along punk rock rager that’ll have fans of ’90s acts like NOFX, Bouncing Souls, and Reel Big Fish cackling with glee.

Describing the song’s themes, drummer Luke McNeill says, “Welcome Wagon is about not only getting older, but FEELING older, and the battle between acceptance and rejection of the ever-present middle-age.”